Letter: Broken promises

When those of us in the suburbs expressed wariness about merging our school system with a failing, larger school system, we were promised many wonderful things in the transition plan adopted June 14, 2012. The No. 1 guiding principle from the Transition Planning Commission was: "The academic success and well-being of our students come first." The plan also states: "The Education Plan chapter of the Transition Plan provides recommendations for ensuring that every student experiences a world-class education."

Now we find out that our school principals have been presented with proposed changes, including a decrease in the number of classroom teachers, an increase in acceptable class size, elimination of the vice principal position and possibly some clerical positions.

This is not what we were promised, and not what the education plan states. Nothing about a higher student-teacher ratio is good. Nothing about this assures a world-class education system.

I have kids in two Shelby County schools. Our school runs efficiently because of the coordinated efforts of the principal, vice principal, assistant principals and the clerical staff. If one or more of these positions are eliminated, the responsibilities of those positions will fall on the teachers, which simply cannot be better for our students.

It is clear that the proposed changes will have a major negative impact on our schools, students and the morale of our teachers.

The board needs to go back to the drawing board, and figure out a way to balance the budget without burdening our teachers, administration and staff with additional responsibilities that will keep them from their first priority, the education of our kids.